A Year Later, Death of Prosecutor Still a Mystery

The FBI said Thursday it found no evidence a federal prosecutor met with anyone the night he disappeared or the morning he was found dead with 36 stab wounds.

It was the first time the FBI publicly addressed the investigation of Jonathan P. Luna’s death since March, when authorities said they were exploring the possibilities of murder, a random killing or suicide.

The coroner in Lancaster County, Pa., where Luna’s body was found, said the case remains classified a homicide.

Luna disappeared Dec. 3, 2003, after he left the federal courthouse in Baltimore around midday. His body was found about 70 miles away, face down in a creek. He had been stabbed and cut, but an autopsy determined he died by drowning. His blood-spattered car was idling nearby.

Luna, 38, had apparently taken a rambling journey from Baltimore to northern Delaware and into Pennsylvania.

“While this task force remains committed to obtaining all the facts surrounding that evening and subsequent morning, investigators have found no evidence to date to indicate Mr. Luna met with someone the night of his disappearance or the morning of his death,” the FBI said in a statement.

FBI spokesman Barry Maddox said the agency is still seeking the public’s help.

Investigators say there remains a gap of about two hours in the timeline for Luna’s activities early Dec. 4 -- from the time his debit card was used to get money from an ATM at a highway rest stop in Newark, Del., until his car went through the Delaware River Bridge toll plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

“The task force continues to believe there may be individuals who have information concerning Mr. Luna’s activities in the late evening hours of Dec. 3, 2003, or the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2003,” the release said.

An FBI award of up $100,000 remains for significant information about Luna’s death.

Maddox declined to comment on whether investigators favor a theory on Luna’s death.

Luna’s 85-year-old father, Paul Luna, has said he believes his son was killed, but he does not know why. He said last week that his son was full of plans at the time of his death, including talk of a trip to the Philippines. A woman who answered the phone at Paul Luna’s home declined to comment.

In August, a colleague at the U.S. attorney’s office in Baltimore wrote that Luna, a married father of two young sons, was troubled about job security and his boss’ management style. Lisa Griffin, a former assistant U.S. attorney who now works for the Justice Department, was sharply critical of U.S. Atty. Thomas DiBiagio.

“Jonathan is also gone after much heartache and distress over your style,” Griffin wrote to DiBiagio. “I am deeply embarrassed to hear that you led the press to believe that Jonathan was not in jeopardy of losing his job. That was not so.” DiBiagio’s office declined to comment.